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Artwork Decorates Benches For Walkers And Cyclists

Actor and comedian Rob Brydon met a life-size steel version of himself as he paid a visit to a newly installed artwork near his hometown of Port Talbot in South Wales.

Rob Brydon was chosen to be immortalised in steel alongside acting legend Richard Burton and a local man – forest ranger Dick Wagstaff – all local heroes to the community in the town of Cwmafan near Port Talbot.

The artwork is part of a national project called the Portrait Bench – from sustainable transport charity Sustrans who are one of the largest commissioners of public art in the UK.

This is the first of 80 benches to be installed across the UK on newly created walking and cycling routes. The bench is accompanied by three life-size effigies of local heroes chosen by the local community to represent them, their culture and their history.

The figures are cut from corten steel (like the famous Angel of the North) so that they will rust and weather to become a natural part of the landscape.

Rob Brydon said: “This is a great honour and I look forward to offering weary cyclists the chance to catch their breath. I love the thought of becoming part of the landscape alongside Dick Wagstaff and the great Richard Burton. I’m hoping that my sculpture might be able to persuade Burton’s sculpture to quote some poetry of an evening, or at least a bit of War Of The Worlds.”